Letters and Comments for October 15, 2009

Disappointing visit

To the Editor:

My husband and I were remarking what a beautiful valley we were visiting this weekend as we travelled from Boise to Seattle via northeastern Oregon. Then we began to see railroad cars parked along the tracks ... hundreds of them just sitting there.

We were sure that the railroad had mothballed the cars there due to the economy, and we felt sorry for the residents of the area and for others like ourselves who came to enjoy the remarkable scenery of the Wallowa Valley.

Imagine our surprise and disappointment when we discovered that the county had foisted this view on itself. “Tucked away in the Northeast corner of Oregon are small communities surrounded by an incredible natural beauty” (Wallowa Chamber of Commerce) and littered with derelict rail cars.

We don’t understand why they are there, but we hope they’ll be gone next time we visit.

Candace and Gregor Miller

Seattle

Bring back deer population

To the Editor:

I was impressed by the Oct. 6 article in The Observer relating to boosting the mule deer numbers.

As we know, the deer population has decreased in the last decade. I applaud the Oregon Hunters Association and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for their efforts to bring back our deer population.

Joel Orton

La Grande